Awful period on holiday (swimming)

[IfYouDontWantMeIllJustDeemYouGay]

Hi everyone,

just after some quick advice. I'm 2 days into a lovely 2 week holiday in Cyprus. My periods are pretty heavy and have been since having DD. I really would like to swim with her and ive come on my period this morning. I have heavy tampons. Silly question can I swim with a tampon? Will any water get up my vagina to cause it to absorb and will I leak? I have googled it but still makes me nervous so thought I'd check to see if anyone's done this and been fine on here.

lovely clear waters and I don't want to cause any blood in the pool!

thank you :)

You can swim with a tampon 🙂 Done it many times. If having a heavy period I would change each time you come out of the water.

Of course you can swim with a tampon.
That's the benefit of tampons compared to sanitary towels.

You will be fine, just make sure your tampon is high enough and like the previous poster said change when you get out of the pool, even just for your own peace of mind. Most importantly, enjoy your holiday

Hi OP, for the future, tranexamic acid or norethisterone can stop or reduce your blood significantly. Great for period free holidays.

Tampons fine for swimming.

I'm a regular swimmer with very heavy periods. My experience is that unfortunately, yes, tampons do indeed become completely saturated with water while swimming, and are then at risk of leaking when leaving the pool. I can kind of feel when it has happened and just make a quick dash for the changing rooms and change the tampon immediately once I have finished swimming. TMI but I have had the situation of bloody water dripping down my legs on more than one occasion unfortunately.

However, this is when I have actually been swimming swimming, especially breaststroke. If you are bobbing about in the pool with your child you may not have any problems. I'd just keep a towel close to the edge of the pool so you can quickly wrap it around your waist when you get out.

Yes I was going to say- when just bobbling about in the water it’s fine but when I’m properly swimming lengths esp breaststroke mine does get full up with water. If I’m on a heavy day I would put a fresh one I right before the swim (to try and avoid the situation the poster above describes) and then change it immediately after regardless of and that.
you can buy period swimwear which should avoid the situation of bloody water down the leg but it’s very expensive for just one holiday and one thing which might not happen.

It's the reason I used to use tampons. No such thing as moon cups when I was young.

if there’s a health food shop, or a chemist, or even a Superdrug equivalent shop, they may well sell menstrual cups, which are perfect for swimming. Worth a try

If only you had some tranexamic acid from the GP - it cuts flow down to almost nothing. Definitely look into it once you're home.

Incorrect. For me it turned from flooding to being manageable.

Thanks everyone. No breaststroke here luckily! Just nipping in and out with DD.

I can't take the tablets which delay or stem the bleeding unfortunately as I have antiphospholipid syndrome so any sort of hormonal contraception or hormonal medication is a solid no for me unfortunately!

will try and hunt down a moon cup and give that a go. Thanks everyone :)

If you're not actually swimming then I reckon you'll be OK OP. If you're stood up in the water then the chances of water getting in are much lower. Like the PP said, just pop a fresh tampon before going in and then change straight away after if you can feel that it's full.

Personally I wouldn't try a moon cup for the first time on a pool holiday, I tried a couple of different types a few years ago and didn't get on with them at all - both had problems with leakage and one was very difficult to remove. I managed to get it out eventually but at one point I thought I was going to have to seek medical assistance! Obviously they work brilliantly for many women but I do think they take some getting used to and I probably wouldn't want to hop straight in the pool on my first go.

That’s the whole point of tampons! Pop it in and get on with life. You may need to change it more frequently.

Just popping by to say the tampons were absolutely fine! Changed them every hour, no issues in the pool, no red clouds in the water.

all is well. Thanks everyone!

I will be looking into mooncups too. :)